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jcatnite

jcatnite

Jedi Knight
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Last weekend, you may remember, I found timing chain tensioner chunks in my oil pan. This weekend I figured I would just pop the cover off and take a look inside...RIGHT!!!. I've just spent my 4th hour of trying to loosen the big nut on the crankshaft pulley. I've broken both my short and my long 1/2" drive breaker bars and one 1/2" drive ratchet. My 5' cheater bar is bent like a pretzel...not really but there is an impressive arc to it now. I know that I have to be getting at least 250 ftlbs on that sucker and it isn't budging. Before I started I soaked it for several hours with AeroKroil. So my question is how much torque can I put on this thing before I worry about pushing the side of the block out with the crank? I've gone through a couple of feet of 2x4 as well. My impact wrench is electric...don't ask why I ever though that was a good idea...and doesn't have that much umph to it...max is rated at 240ftlbs. I am considering buying this pneumatic wrench and am wondering what everyone thinks.
https://www.grainger.com/Grainger/productdetail.jsp?xi=xi&ItemId=1611776761
Should that be enough? It's really more than I can afford to spend on "fun" right now but I have to get Rusty back on the road. She looks pitiful in the garage sitting on jackstands. Also if there are any more suggestions I am wide open cause I'm at the end of my rope on this one. You know how once you've exhausted all your good ideas you resort to the ones that seem to just break stuff... that's where I am now...
Any help is greatly appreciated.
JC
 
nice wrenches, well built and heavy duty. but not offset enough to reach this particular nut.

mark
 
I tried to use a non impact socket and a short breaker bar in a manner similar to the slugging wrenches but there wasn't quite enough room in there to get at it. I've got the pan off so I guess the starter is out of the question. I think if I can get my hands on a decent pneumatic impact wrench it will free up. If not I guess I'm up the proverbial creek...lol...
Thanks for the advice. If necessary I can reinstall the oil pan so I can bump the starter. I almost did that today but chickened out thinking the flywheel would suffer.
JC
 
Ah Jcatnite, just go rent a 1/2 inch 400 lb/ft impact wrench and it will be off in a jiffy.---Keoke /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/yesnod.gif
 
I went to Sears & purchased a 3/4" breaker and correct socket when I got to the point of desperation that you have arrived at. Came out ok in the end after much grunting!
 
JC, Had the same problem (and I too posted the same question) with my '77 1500 motor. Maybe I was lucky, but I was able to break the nut free using a 3/4 breaker bar, a cheater bar (the handle to my floor jack), and bracing 2 2x4's against the crank, one in the front, one in the rear to spread out the load. Best of luck on this, it's frustrating as all get out...
 
Thanks everyone, when I couldn't bust it loose initially I jumped right on the forum to verify that it was right handed threads...made sense that it would be but still had to check. This forum is so great, it took me no more that 3 minutes of searching to find that others have had similar experiences. I've got a 4X torque multiplier, impact socket, and 3/4" breaker bar that I'll be trying tonight. I think with all of that something will definitely break loose. I just hope it is the right thing.
JC
 
The nut couldn't resist the force of the torque multiplier. It took about 360ftlbs to get it loose but she didn't have a choice at that point. Thanks for all the help guys. The tensioner chuncks I found in the oil pan were from a previous failure. There is a complete tensioner on the engine right now but it has obvious wear. I plan to replace it and the chain since I have it apart. There is about 9/16" of play in the chain so I'm sure it won't hurt it to be replaced. I couldn't find a spec anywhere concerning this but on the old V8's I used to play with anything 1/2" and above would get new... Still waiting for my .010" over rod bearings anyway...
JC
 
JC, according to my shop manual, you "check the timing chain wear by placing a straight edge along the slack run of the chain. If movement at the mid-point exceeds 0.4 in (10mm), renew the chain." Also, I wouldn't recommend changing just the chain. For a small investment, change the gears also. My chain was within spec, but the gears were showing obvious signs of wear on the bearing edges of the teeth. Just for information, I got rid of the original single row chain and went to a double row chain with a vernier gear. Got it from British Parts Northwest (Great place to deal with), for around $195.00. No slack in the chain at all, so no need for the tensioner. Although more expensive, I chose this setup at I've put a mild street performance cam into the motor.

Hope this helps you some.
 
Glad to hear you got it loosened, that sounds like a nasty one to remove. Just for my edification should I ever need to do the same; am I correct that it comes off the same direction as your typical nut (lefty loosy)? Also, was the engine still in the car when you did this? Did you remove the steering rack outright or were you able to just loosen it?
-Dave
 
You are correct in that it is right handed threads...lefty loosy. I left the engine in the car but the brakes weren't enough to hold the car. With my daughter pushing on the brakes with all her might I still spun the back tires in 4th gear...lol. That's why I thought I was going to break something for sure. I ended up removing the oil pan and bracing the crank with 2 2X4's against the block. I don't know if I would have been able to get this one with the engine on a stand... anyway...I am going to draw some boo's here but I loosened the steering rack and lifted it out of the way just enough to get a socket on the nut. I don't think I hurt anything but will find out when I get the wheels back down. I put the jack stands right under the coil springs so that the wheels would be up as high as possible which might have been what gave me enough slack in the steering... Fun stuff...lol
JC
 
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